Commerce Case Study: Cyberstupid

It would be funny if it all wasn’t so tragic. According to The Washington Post, an agency in the Department of Commerce was so ravaged by a malicious virus that its entire information technology infrastructure, from desktop computers to hand-held cell phones, had to be shut down.

Ironic. The Department of Commerce’s polyglot of offices includes the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which does some of the federal government’s most cutting-edge work on improving cybersecurity.

Apparently, the folks at Commerce don’t pay much attention to NIST. “Cyber experts have repeatedly pointed to a lack of system security at Commerce,” says the Post. “The agency’s IT systems ‘are constantly exposed to an increasing number of cyber attacks, which are becoming more sophisticated and more difficult to detect,’ Inspector General Todd J. Zinser wrote last year.”

There are two lessons worth learning here.

The first is yet another reminder that malicious cyber-activity becomes a much bigger problem when people act cyberstupid and don’t take safeguarding their networks seriously.

Second, and more important, is that, when it comes to cybersecurity, it is clear that not only does government not always have the answer, but in some cases it proves itself far less competent than the private sector. The latest debacle from the Commerce Department is another cautionary tale reminding us that empowering government to dictate security on the Internet is probably not the best answer.

Even if the government were competent in promulgating regulations and enforcing them (a dubious proposition in and of itself), government does not move at Internet speed. It takes about 18 months to establish regulations and begin to enforce them—during that period, the technologies used online can change dramatically. Giving government more regulatory power over cybersecurity is not a great idea.

Government and the private sector ought to cross-talk more. Promoting effective information sharing is a laudable goal, but it would be even better if folks like those running the information technology programs at Commerce paid attention.

James Jay Carafano, a leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges, is The Heritage Foundation’s Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, E. W. Richardson Fellow, and Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies. Read his research.

Join The Discussion

Next the power grid. It might be 10 hours, or days, or wekks but it is comming. We have over produced ourselves to a point where we are not only NOT progressing but in fact have regressed to a point where we are at a stand still. We must be yet further humbled before we can move forward!

does anyone working anywhere in government have to be qualified, anymore? Or is something that necessary now discrimination? How terrible to have to write that! Can't wait to get a majority in government that use their minds ability to reason, as today most in control beyond ours are unwilling to use and won't take accountability to their own! We are in DANGER!!!!

Hey, how about that unconstitutional government health care industry where no one is accountable! Under Obama, nobody has the human dignity to take the job serious without a thought of consequences and too many bodies of otherwise intelligent minds, are in wasteful make work positions closing their minds potential. Obama is unjust and immoral! America once had the challenges through our own personal ambitions, we chose to take on! When skin color was irrelevant!

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